A Painful Parting
by jkinz3
Summary: After Link rescued Zelda from the clutches of a being attempting to revive Ganon, he realized that he must leave the land in order to keep it safe.


When she came around the corner she saw him. He was packing all hi equipment into Epona's saddle. Link's face was covered in silent sorrow and his eyes focused on the job at hand. The stables were empty, the other horses were out in the fields for drills. But none of this mattered to Zelda. When she came around the corner she saw him and she knew that these upcoming moments will stick with her.

"Link?"

He looked her in the eye and smiled. "Hey"

"I thought I'd find you here. Back to the forest?"

The smile turned from happiness, to sadness. His eyes looked at the pack as he finished and turned to her.

"Not exactly," he said, the tone of his voice alarming Zelda.

She stepped closer. "I don't understand."

He nodded and took off his cap, scratching his head before placing it back on his head. "I've been thinking for a bit, a long time actually."

Zelda's heart dropped. Her fingers naturally crossed at her chest as she thought. "If it's about you rescusing me, I assure you we've—"

"Zelda," he interjected a tone of pity colored his light voice. "It's not that."

"Well I don't understand. What could you possibly be running away from?"

He smiled and tightened the pack and stepped closer to her, they were merely an arms length away. "You know what that man said."

Her curiosity retreated and a dark shadow crossed her face. Her fingers clenched together and she looked through Link into past memories. "I know what he said. I know what he did, but I also know that he's gone. You defeated him!"

He remained calm. "Yes but don't you remember what he said?"

He looked down. "He said that we cannot win in the end, that the evil is destined to fight until it conquers its goal."

She was forced to agree. The words still rang in her head.

Link continued. "They'll keep coming, Zelda, this evil, this abomination that this man served. It will keep attacking! As long as it can, it will chase after the triforce."

He shrugged off restraint and swallowed before speaking. "So as long as they can't get to triforce, it won't obtain the power it seeks. These parts cannot be joined, Zelda. I'm leaving Hyrule."

Tears of despair were forming in her eye lids. Her heart pumped faster and her hands started to tremor. "But where will you go? Outside of Hyrule there is only- oh, Link. There's nothing there but disorder and turmoil!"

He nodded. "That means that the triforce won't be in danger."

Zelda was suddenly filled with anger as she spoke sternly "Don't you trust us? Don't you care about all of us? The sages? The people? My father? Me?"

Link wet his lips and spoke slowly. "That's why I'm leaving. Without the three pieces in one land, the evil can't win. The land will be safe."

"Where will you go?"

Link looked towards the direction of the gate. "East. I'll stop in Kokiri forest and say goodbye before heading off."

"And that's where you'll enter the lost woods?"

"That's where it's the easiest. Then the land will be safer."

Zelda struggled to find the words to disprove him. She sought her mind to argue against him. It was difficult because she knew he was right. She looked down at the ground. "Oh Link. I don't know what I'll do. I don't know what I'll tell my father or my people. Oh Link."

She looked back up to him with teary eyes. "How can I ever live without you?"

He waited a long moment before answering with a motion. He held out his arm. "Walk me to the gate?

She sniffed and looped her arm through his, leaning her head against his shoulder.

When they reached the gate, Epona gave a whine and shook her head, glad to be in the open. When she spoke she spoke into him. "I'm praying. I'm praying that your journey be a safe one. Even though it was only a short time, I feel like I've known you forever. I'll never forget the days we spent together." She reached into her robes and pulled out a blue instrument. "If anything should happen to you, remember this song."

They separated and she placed the ocarina against her lips. A low and resonating song filled the air.

The song of time….

"The Goddess of Time is protecting you. She will aid you," she said, her voice cracking as she held it out to him.

He pocketed the Ocarina of Time and looked at her. The gravity of the situation seemed to hit them both as they embraced each other. Link held her waist tightly and she held his shoulders, unwilling to let go. Her breath on his skin gave him Goosebumps that arose on his neck.

They knew no concept of time as they held each other close. They only knew each other's presence and the feeling of warmth that emanated from each other's cores. They said nothing and the only noise came from the wind and the songbirds that sang in the trees.

A whisper broke through the calm ambient tone of the wildlife, "Will I ever see you again?"

He only held her tighter and she knew the answer, gently sobbing into him.

"Remember me. Please remember me."

He felt her clothing under her hands and was suddenly aware of the desire to feel her soft skin underneath his rough fingers. He longed to caress her. "I could never forget. If there were any other way-"

"I know."

Zelda cried into his tunic and breathed in everything about him before whispering the last words.

"Goodbye, my hero."

He traced his fingers along her waist line before whispering back.

"Goodbye, my princess."

They separated and looked deep into each other's eyes. A moment or two more and their lips might have met but a crow called and Link turned away, swiftly mounting Epona and riding into the field, leaving Zelda with lonely lips begging for contact. Her hand rose to them and she stared off at her one hero, her heart in sorrow. Link rode away, not daring to look back. The three words he so longed to say never left his heart, for her knew that it would only make the parting more painful. He faced the sun in the sky, and headed towards Kokiri Forest, silently willing his hands to remember the feeling of her body.

Zelda's biggest regret in the rest of her life was never telling Link exactly how she felt about him. She wished for another chance to tell him that he was the light in her world that she loved with the whole essence of her entire mind. Eventually the nights came without unrest and the dreams disappeared. But when she would look up at the stars, she imagined him off somewhere having his own adventure. When she laid down in her bed, she imagined his lion heart beating strong with courage. And when she fell asleep, she knew he was thinking of her.


End file.
